Google MapsStreet view of the Linden municipal building. A Linden judge is accused of presiding over the same case he prosecuted.

LINDEN — A municipal judge who came under fire this week after a complaint he prosecuted the same case he presided over has survived an attempt to replace him.

Judge Louis M. J. DiLeo of Linden, who also let a witness interview two defendants in the May 12 trial, has been working on an expired term since January 2009. A replacement nominated by Mayor Richard Gerbounka fell short of city council approval by a single vote on Tuesday night.

DiLeo, a 57-year-old Westfield resident whose been Linden’s judge since 2003, committed "significant legal errors" during the trial of cousins Anthony and Wendall Kirkland on attempted burglary and other charges, Michael Rubas, an attorney for one of the defendants contends in a 14-page appeal to Superior Court Judge Scott Moynihan.

DiLeo denied the defendants’ request for a public defender and later sentenced them to six months in jail and three years' probation.

On Tuesday, the city council voted 6-5 against replacing DiLeo with Daniel Roberts, an attorney the mayor has been fighting to put in the position. The replacement was resisted for the past two years by Robert Bunk, a council president who lost re-election last year.

Third Ward Councilman Peter Brown said he voted against appointing Roberts because he felt the mayor and council need to focus on the city’s financial issues.

"The more time we focus on Dan Roberts is less time we can focus on the budget," Brown, a Democrat, said Wednesday night.

Gerbounka, whose move to have Roberts approved on Tuesday was not connected to the Rubas complaint about DiLeo, said Roberts would have saved the city money, doing the same part-time job for nearly $52,000 less than DiLeo’s $127,000 annual salary. Council members, the mayor said, did not seem to be aware of the issues with the case involving the current judge.

"Part of their argument was that Judge DiLeo is a skilled, competent judge and that Dan Roberts is an inexperienced attorney," Gerbounka said. "Even though the savings is there, they felt it was compensated for by having a well-seasoned judge like DiLeo."